


The Unrivaled

by say_lene



Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-23
Updated: 2017-08-23
Packaged: 2018-12-19 00:46:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11886363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/say_lene/pseuds/say_lene
Summary: A mysterious disappearance warrants concern from the Initiative and Collective alike. When Ryder and Reyes go to investigate, they unleash a threat that neither of them understands - and that no one has any idea how to stop. An ancient entity's vendetta soon sets them both on a path to destruction.---Can you survive without him?





	The Unrivaled

**Author's Note:**

>   
>    
> 
> 
>   
>  Artwork and banner by the wonderful spacesquirrel ([tumblr](https://spacesquirrel.tumblr.com/) and [AO3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/space_squirrel) and [direct art link](http://imgur.com/QOdTEkA))
> 
> For the MEBB2017. It was a pleasure to collaborate with you, spacesquirrel!

There was a dull buzzing in Sara's ears, but her visits to the Nexus always ended like this.

Usually, things started out all right. She'd wander through the commons, enjoying the artificial sunlight. She'd hop aboard the tram, checking the news during the downtime. She'd waltz through operations -

And she'd swear under her breath.

The buzzing always started at the threshold of Pathfinder HQ. It was boredom, she supposed, or at least the threat of it; an evolved response to the kind of droning voice quite capable of lulling you to sleep.

Or boring you to death.

But something was different, this time. Something was wrong. There was a buzzing in the _air_ , as well, only it wasn't the Gaussian noise of the usual impending headache. It was quiet and vaguely electric. It was the hum of an anxious crowd.

The group waiting for Sara near Tann's desk could almost be called a crowd, she supposed. The director himself was there, along with Addison and Kandros. Kesh was towering over them like a stern caretaker, and Dr. Aridana was hovering on the periphery. She was wringing her hands, her eyes darting between the executives. The asari wore an expression that Sara knew well.

Fear.

"Pathfinder," Tann said tersely. His tone was as clipped and perfunctory as always, but some of his usual dismissiveness was absent. Clearly, he was nervous. "Thank you for coming. This is a matter of some urgency."

Even now - even after everything that had happened in Meridian - meetings made Sara nervous. Instead of joining the circle gathered around Tann's desk, she claimed a spot where she could lean against the wall.

Suave. Relaxed. _That's_ what she was going for.

She wasn't sure she pulled it off. Reyes made everything look effortless, and Sara still hadn't learned his secret. "What's going on?"

"We're not completely sure," Tann answered. Whatever it was, he'd been hesitant to put it in an email or a vidcomm. "One of Addison's scouting ships -"

Addison spoke right over him. "One of the scouting ships has disappeared, Pathfinder. It went dark in the Nalesh system."

Sara frowned. "So what's the emergency?" If they'd dragged her away from Kadara for _one_ missing ship…

Kandros was quick to spot the danger in Sara's expression. "That's not the worrying part, Pathfinder. Ships go missing in Heleus all the time - but this crew transmitted some sensor records before their systems went offline."

"What kind of records?"

Kandros gestured to Aridana. "Emission spectra," the doctor said nervously. She'd been picking at the hem of her sleeve; Sara could see where the material had begun to fray. "High intensity, and peculiar. They seem to indicate that the shuttle stumbled across a Remnant ship."

 _That_ was interesting. "My wheelhouse, then."

"We want you to investigate," Tann snapped. Clearly, he was a little peeved at having control of the meeting usurped. "It may be dangerous, but you're the best person for the job. Your familiarity with Remnant technology might help to keep you safe."

"Thanks for the concern," Sara muttered. She looked to Aridana. "Why do you look so worried?"

Aridana shrugged helplessly. Kandros and Addison frowned. Tann looked down at his desk, but Kesh looked Sara in the eye.

"Whatever it is, it's big - and _something_ took our shuttle out of action." The krogan inclined her head. "Be careful, Ryder."

 

\---

 

"So what do you think happened, Sara?" Scott was sitting in Suvi's chair, feet propped up on the edge of the console. Suvi herself was standing behind him, glaring at him rather dangerously - but he didn't seem to notice. "Life-support failure? Hull breach? Collision?"

SAM chimed in via the PA system. "At this stage, speculation is unlikely to be productive. Without additional data, we cannot confirm the validity of any single hypothesis."

"Doesn't matter," Scott said breezily. "I'm still curious."

"My credits are on the Scourge," Sara declared. She raised an eyebrow as her brother swung the chair around to look her. "If the scouts really did find a Remnant ship, the Scourge couldn't be far behind."

Scott hummed thoughtfully, bracing his arms on his knees - and finally spotted Suvi's expression. He quickly scooted out of her chair.

Suvi rolled her eyes, but she smiled good-naturedly as she reclaimed her station. "The Scourge seems to react more slowly to inactive Remtech," she pointed out. "Maybe they found a dormant ship?"

Sara shrugged. "Maybe. How long now, Kallo?"

"There _is_ new Scourge activity in the system," the pilot responded. He was peering at his console intently. "Probably twenty minutes or so. We'll need to take the long way round."

"All right." Sara headed for the door, already keying up her omni-tool. "I'll be in my room if you need me."

Behind her, Scott made a disgusted sound. "We all know what _that_ means."

Sara didn't turn around - but she did yell over her shoulder as the door slid closed behind her. "Shut up!"

Her omni-tool said it was early morning on Kadara. Whether or not Reyes would actually be awake at this hour was another matter entirely, but Sara decided she'd try it anyway. An interface for the Tempest's vidcomm had finally been installed beside the terminal in her quarters, and she made a beeline for it as soon as she entered her room.

"SAM, can you call Reyes for me?"

"I have already placed the transmission, Pathfinder. Mr. Vidal has not yet answered."

Sara sighed. She swerved off course and flopped down on the couch instead, staring out at the FTL-blurred stars. Kallo hadn't been kidding about taking the long way around; the view shifted in and out of focus as the Tempest dropped in and out of different FTL corridors, twisting and rolling as it skirted the edges of spiralling Scourge tendrils.

It was a minute or so before the vidcomm chimed. An image of Reyes appeared in the space next to SAM's sphere projection, messy-haired and bleary-eyed. "Good morning," he grumbled.

Sara couldn't help but giggle. Reyes Vidal was a lot of things - but he was _not_ a morning person.

"I'm sorry," she called from her spot on the couch. She meant it, too. Reyes never seemed to get enough sleep. "I wanted to give you a heads-up. My meeting turned into a mission. Not sure when I'll be back."

Reyes sighed quietly. Anyone else would probably have missed it, but SAM made Sara's senses that much sharper - and SAM always paid special attention whenever Reyes was involved. Reyes scrubbed the back of his hand over his eyes, then raked his fingers through his hair.

"Is this the kind of mission you can talk about?"

"Yes."

"Is it dangerous?"

He always asked that question, but her answer was always the same. Sara had never been on a mission that _wasn't_ dangerous.

She shrugged. "We're checking the Nalesh system for a missing ship. Tann says it might have gone dark near a Remnant vessel."

"Hmm." Reyes reached for something out of frame, then pulled it over his head.

It was a shirt, of course. Sara raised an eyebrow. "You sure you want to put that on? I've got a few minutes before we hit Nalesh…"

"As tempting as that sounds," Reyes said, shrugging on a jacket as well, "I've got somewhere to be. Shall we rendezvous at the edge of the system, or at the border of the asteroid field?"

"What?" Sara sat bolt upright. She stared at his image for a moment, wondering if she'd heard him right. "Reyes, I'll be _fine_. You really don't -"

"I know, I know. You're the Pathfinder. Would you believe me if I said I just want to see a Remnant ship?"

"No. You can do that on Elaaden."

Reyes shrugged. He fixed her with his most endearing smile - and _winked_. "Then I guess I won't say that."

Sara glowered at him. "Come on. What's going on?"

"All right." Reyes' smile faded. "The Collective _also_ lost an agent in Nalesh."

Sara's frown deepened. Nalesh was a remote system, and it wasn't part of any major thoroughfares.

At all.

Why would the Collective have an agent there?

"If you're about to tell me there was a spy on that Initiative ship…"

Reyes shrugged helplessly. "Well, you do say we shouldn't talk about business -"

"Damn it, Reyes!"

"I'm sorry," he said quickly. "It's nothing personal, Sara. The Collective has agents everywhere. Besides - wouldn't you keep an eye on Tann if you could?"

"I see your point," Sara snapped. She didn't like it, though.

"But mostly," Reyes murmured. "I just want to see you."

And Sara's anger just melted away.

She had a feeling he would have touched her if he could. He fidgeted like he was fighting the urge to reach for her; to stretch out for something his fingers would never find.

"The Nexus interrupted your vacation time, right?" Reyes' voice was low and tender, and it could have laid Sara out at his feet. "For once, let me be the one to come to you."

She relented, of course. Reyes Vidal had that effect on her.

"All right. But fly carefully, okay? I'll see you at the edge of the system."

 

\---

 

They arrived in the Nalesh system a little sooner than Kallo predicted. No one was really sure what they would find once they dropped out of FTL, but they weren't taking any chances. Sara was fully outfitted in her hardsuit. If there was any need to launch a ground team, Scott and Jaal were in place to back her up. The atmosphere on the Tempest was tense, but not unreasonably so.

Peebee was standing in the Pathfinder's place at the bow, arms folded over the railing. She was practically _vibrating_ ; dancing from foot to foot in anticipation of some new and incredible discovery. "Are we there yet?"

As if Kallo was waiting for her cue, the ship abruptly slowed. Peebee seized the railing, hurling herself forward like it might somehow give her a better view. Nalesh's pale star was partly obscured by a double ring of ice and rocky asteroids. Beams of cold white light danced across the bridge, scattered by the wandering shadows.

"Where is it?" Peebee demanded. "Can anyone see it?"

Without prompting, SAM engaged the bridge's EM filters. Even so, Sara had to shade her eyes as she peered into the glare. "Not me. SAM, what have we got on sensors?"

"It appears that Dr. Aridana's sensor reports were accurate, Pathfinder. A Remnant ship is currently orbiting Tijorana, the first planet in the system. The ship appears to be inactive."

"Why?"

"I will require more detailed scans to make that evaluation."

Sara checked her omni-tool. She should probably give Reyes a few more minutes before she took off to investigate. Even if she was a little nervous about bringing him into what could very well be a dangerous situation, Sara _did_ want to see him. Pathfinders didn't get vacation days - not without strenuous argument, anyway - and she'd been devastated to have hers interrupted. Reyes had been, too.

"Reyes late again?" Scott was smirking at her. "Want me to have a talk with him?"

Sara made a face at him - but she didn't dignify that question with an answer.

Liam was leaning on the back of Suvi's chair. Like the rest of them, he was fully kitted out. He didn't _glower_ , because Liam Kosta never did - but he clearly didn't share Scott's amusement. "How long are we going to wait?"

"At FTL," Jaal said calmly, "A trip from Kadara to Voeld lasts only a few minutes. I'm sure he will be here shortly."

Kallo's sensors pinged even before Jaal had finished speaking. "Looks like him, Ryder. Nice shuttle."

SAM didn't ask for permission to establish the comm link. When Reyes' voice came in over the line, Sara couldn't help but grin.

"Anubis to the Tempest." She could almost hear him grinning, too. "Mind if I join the party?"

"Permission granted, _Anubis._ " Sara carefully ignored the way Scott waggled his eyebrows at her.

"You've found it, then?"

"Looks like it," Sara replied. "It's in orbit around Tijorana."

"Any sign of your missing ship?"

"Not presently," SAM contributed. "However, drive core emissions in the system seem to indicate a small vessel recently collided with Tijorana's surface."

"Hang on." Peebee turned around and leaned back against the railing, tipping one hand to illustrate her point. "What are you saying? They got distracted by the view and _crashed into the planet_?"

"That explanation is unlikely. Without additional data, I can only speculate."

Scott rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well… that's interesting."

"We need to take a closer look," Suvi put in. "Pathfinder?"

Sara nodded firmly. She felt another spark of uncertainty - but Reyes could take care of himself. He was the god damn _Charlatan_.

"Let's do it. You following, Anubis?"

"Always, Pathfinder."

Sara reclaimed her place at the bow as Kallo guided the Tempest through the asteroid rings. Peebee clung to her shoulders like a fidgeting blue backpack, refusing to give up her front-row view. Sara endured it - if somewhat irritably - as chunks of grey and white rock drifted past.

"Wonder what we're gonna find," Peebee murmured in her ear. "Thoughts?"

Sara flexed her shoulders, wondering if this was how people developed back problems. "I'm guessing a _ship_ , Peebs."

"Well, yeah, but there has to be _something_ special about it. Maybe a new defense system? Ooooh - maybe it's proximity-based! Maybe that's how it busted up the shuttle?" The weight on Sara's back shifted as Peebee leaned over to speak to Kallo. "Any sign of something like that?"

"No. Not yet, anyway."

Once they cleared the rings of debris, it was smooth sailing to Tijorana. This close to Nalesh's star, the light was blinding even through the filters. Sara squinted past the brightness.

She could see it.

It wasn't as big as the Remnant ship on Elaaden, but it was still huge. It was massive, really. Tijorana was only a little larger than Pluto or Eris, and while an ordinary ship should still have been dwarfed by it, the Remnant ship was quite clearly silhouetted against its glittering surface. It was an inky, straight-edged blackness, writ large on green and copper.

"Wow," Sara whispered.

Peebee sounded a little strangled. "Yeah. Wow."

Behind them, Jaal cleared his throat. "That is…very large."

"Detecting anything yet, SAM?" Scott's voice wobbled a little, and Sara couldn't blame him. That thing was gigantic. She wondered what they'd do if it turned out to be bad news.

"The Remnant vessel still appears to be inactive, Scott. I can confirm that the lost shuttle was indeed an Initiative vessel. Its designation was N-S203."

"How can you tell?" The back of Sara's neck was prickling.

Reyes answered before SAM could. "The Remnant ship's broadcasting a distress signal, Ryder. It's low amplitude, but it's there." He sounded nervous - and Sara couldn't blame _him_ , either.

"Play it, SAM."

It was audio only.

"-ayday, shuttle N-S203 - _bzzt_ \- …lesh system, en-route to H-047 -"

The feed went silent for several long seconds. Sara was about to prompt SAM to skip forward, but the audio crackled back to life a moment later - and she was grateful for the lack of an image.

The pilots were _screaming_.

Sara was no stranger to fear or pain, but this was a kind she'd never heard before. It was terror overlapping with agony in a desperate, screeching chorus; violin strings on hacksaws, the pitch sliding from low to high and back again like fingernails raked down shrieking vocal cords. It clawed at her ears, digging in through to her brain -

"Turn it off, SAM!"

The silence that followed was fragile - and poised on the tip of a razor blade.

Liam was the first to speak. "What the fuck was that?"

"Holy shit," Scott muttered. "The _Remnant_ ship is broadcasting that?"

SAM answered before Sara managed to find her voice. "Yes, Scott. However, the signal encoding patterns and content suggest it originated from the missing Initiative shuttle."

"Content." Even Peebee sounded shaken. "Right."

Sara gripped the railing - partly for support, but mostly to hide her shaking hands. The Remnant vessel loomed on the planet's periphery like the corpse of some long-dead god; hulking and lifeless, but somehow still malevolent.

"We're going to have to board it."

She could almost hear the gritted teeth behind her. Liam's sharp exhale was the loudest. "We're about to walk into a horror movie, aren't we?"

Sara shook Peebee off. "I hope not." She turned to face the rest of them, resisting the temptation to glance back over her shoulder; to keep her eyes on the behemoth lurking beyond the glass. "I don't think scans are going to be enough. Kallo, can you find us a clear space to dock?"

His reply was uncertain. "I think so. Not sure how you're going to get in, though."

"The Remnant ship on Elaaden appeared to possess airlock systems," SAM advised. "I will scan for potential access points as we approach the vessel."

"I guess I'll follow you," Reyes said through the commlink. He said it with a smile in his voice - but Sara was sure he had to be as nervous as the rest of them.

Who wouldn't be?

"Take us in, Kallo. Carefully."

The approach was tense. They huddled together on the bridge like mice in the shadow of an incoming asteroid; like mankind's forebears gazing out into the darkness. Those screams were still rattling around in Sara's skull. Her heart was snapping back and forth on its tether like it was trying to sound out an SOS.

"Get a grip," she whispered to herself. She raised her voice when the Remnant ship was close enough to fill their view. "SAM?"

"There appears to be a suitable landing site at these coordinates, Mr. Jath."

Kallo had paled to a delicate beige, but his hands were steady as he brought the Tempest down. Up close, the Remnant ship could have passed for a proto-planet. Sara wouldn't have been surprised to find that it had its own measurable gravity. Peebee made a wordless sound of awe as the layers of darkened metal blurred into sheets below them. Sara didn't comment when she felt her friend tugging at her hand again.

"Question," Peebee whispered. "How do we expect to find anything in there? We could wander around for days."

Sara shrugged. They'd probably be relying on SAM - but that was true of almost everything Sara did. "We'll make it work," she muttered. Still, her grip on the railing turned white-knuckled as the docking clamps locked into place. Prying her fingers free was like prying a neutron apart. "All right. I guess we're going. Scott and Jaal, with me."

"Good thing I brought my hardsuit," Reyes said cheerfully. "I'll meet you outside."

The Charlatan could take care of himself - but _anything_ could be waiting for them inside that ship. "Reyes -"

But he'd already cut the feed. Sara headed for the airlock, cramming her helmet on as quickly as she could. Her squad filed in behind her, and the inner airlock doors closed with a quiet hiss.

Behind her, Scott scoffed. Sara only heard it through her hardsuit comm, because he'd already donned his helmet too. "If you're going to worry about someone, worry about me. I freaking _hate_ space walks."

"Is this a space walk?" Jaal asked. "I thought that the term referred to tethered extravehicular -"

"We're in space. We're walking. It's all the same to me, Jaal."

"Let's go," Sara muttered.

She sounded pretty okay, really. Still, when the outer airlock door slid back to reveal a silent ship and empty space, Sara almost lost her nerve. But she could see Reyes waiting for her, mag-lock boots firmly planted on the Remnant hull. His shuttle was parked behind him, clamped to the hull with its own electromagnets. She couldn't see his face through his tinted helmet visor, but he was probably grinning.

She'd be damned if she let herself look like a coward now.

SAM spoke in Sara's ear as she clambered down to join Reyes. "I am patching Mr. Vidal's helmet microphone into the Pathfinder team channel."

"Thanks, SAM. Can you hear me, Reyes?"

He nodded. "Loud and clear."

"Are you _sure_ you want to do this?"

He shrugged at her as she drew near. "I can hardly turn back _now_ , can I? Imagine what your brother would say."

"Fair point," said Scott.

"Okay." Sara's eyes were already roaming the hull, but its surface was deceptively smooth. "We need an access point. Can you see anything, SAM?"

"Yes, Pathfinder. I have placed a navpoint on your omni-tool. You may be able to access the airlock there."

Progress to the navpoint was slow. Sara didn't like mag-boots. The magnets were always too strong or too weak; leaving her tethered more tightly than she'd like, or letting her teeter on the edge of escape velocity. Today, they were too strong. Every step along the hull was an effort. Scott's time on Arcturus had left him more comfortable with them than his sister, but he kept his eyes trained on his feet. Hard vacuum was one of Scott's biggest fears.

Reyes didn't seem particularly comfortable with the boots either, but he kept pace with the rest of the team. Jaal walked at the rear - and though Sara couldn't have said for certain, she had a feeling he was watching the rest of them for any sign of loosening magnets. Sara would have to remember to thank him later. His caution was probably unnecessary, but it still made her feel safer.

The airlock was so well hidden that Sara would have missed it if not for SAM's alert. If she crouched down to peer closely at the hull, she could just barely make out grooves in the silky metal.

"There's no terminal." Sara ran her fingers along one of the grooves, then rapped the metal with her knuckles. "I don't know if - wait."

The airlock was reacting to her proximity. Tiny blue-green Remnant symbols burned to life across the metal surface, flaring beneath her fingers as she moved. "SAM? Can we interface with these?"

"I believe so."

Sara inhaled sharply as the glyphs began to flicker and twist, winding around each other like fairy lights coursing toward a drain. Blue shifted to yellow, then red. The symbols flared one final time - then winked out. The outer airlock door opened.

"Well," Reyes said. "That was impressive."

Once they had all clambered inside, Sara made sure to close the outer door behind them. Jaal waited in silence while she set to work on the inner door, but Scott and Reyes looked around in slack-jawed wonder. It was easy to forget that - at least to the wider cluster - the Remnant were almost an unknown. Neither Scott nor Reyes had ever set foot inside a vault.

Shock was understandable.

"This is amazing," Scott whispered as the inner airlock opened.

"It's creepy," Sara corrected. Something about the silence here was different to the silence of a vault. "Is there air, SAM?"

"No. Artificial gravity is similarly absent."

Well, that explained the silence. Sara sighed. "You heard him, people. Helmets and mag-boots stay on."

The lights on their hardsuits were doing a good job of dispersing the darkness, at least. They made their way down a wide corridor, mag-boots silent in the vacuum. Their flashlights sent ripples cascading across the bulkheads, skirting the narrow channels cut into the edges of the passageway. For now, the grooves were dry, but they must have been built to transfer the Remnant's ferrous blood.

"So," Sara muttered. She wasn't sure why she was whispering. "Peebee had a point - we're never going to find anything in here if we just wander around aimlessly. SAM, are you detecting anything we can use?"

"There do appear to be active conduits behind these bulkheads, Pathfinder. Perhaps we should follow them to their source."

Sara fired up her scanner. She supposed she should have expected that.

Scott's head swivelled back and forth as they made their way forward, craning from side to side like he was trying to look at everything at once. "This is incredible," he breathed. "Is this what the vaults look like?"

"There are differences," Jaal replied. His tone, at least, was cautious. "These corridors are narrow, while the underground structures are cavernous. The vaults are also much better lit."

"Should there be light?" Reyes asked quietly.

"The ship appears to be functioning on depleted power reserves," SAM put in. "It is possible that the lighting has been disabled in order to minimize power consumption."

"Then why waste power broadcasting an Initiative distress call?"

Nobody could answer. A chill was settling at the base of Sara's spine.

Nothing about this felt okay.

"Did you hear that?" Scott asked.

Jaal shook his head. "I didn't hear anything."

Sara sighed explosively. "We are _not_ in a horror movie. Cut it out."

They spent a good fifteen minutes winding their way further into the Remnant vessel. The corridors soon began to branch like spidery veins, but the active conduit guided them forward. Their path was lined with locked rooms and sealed compartments, all completely inaccessible - and according to SAM, cut off from the dormant ship's power. They crossed huge, darkened spaces with no discernible purpose, and clambered through apertures that were only half shut. All throughout was that darkened Remnant alloy, rippling faintly even in the gloom. That distant resonance Sara had grown to associate with the vaults was totally absent. Her nerves drew steadily tighter as they walked, sawing back and forth like they were trying to wear through her spine.

She shouldn't be wound this tightly. It had to be the horror-movie atmosphere; the remembered sound of screaming shuttle pilots. She punched Reyes in the shoulder when he mimicked Scott's attempt to scare her - "What was that?" - and had to bite back a gasp when SAM spoke up unexpectedly.

"There is a sealed door up ahead, Pathfinder. It appears to be blocking the route."

"I see it, SAM." She pressed against the barrier with her palm, but it didn't budge. There was no responding flare of glyphs. On a whim, she knocked - but that didn't yield any result either. "Any ideas, team?"

Reyes stepped up beside her, fingertips testing the joins in the metal. The alloy almost seemed to _move_ under his fingers; to ripple like the surface of a pond, though it didn't really bend at all. "This is…very unusual. But you can access these, right? Isn't that why that Kett bastard was so jealous of you?"

"There's no interface," Sara murmured. "I don't think I can open it."

Scott leaned in over Sara's shoulder, staring at the alloy with barely disguised wonder. "There's got to be some other access point."

Behind them, Jaal grunted softly. "Forgive me, but… did anyone else hear that?"

Sara took a deep breath. She turned around to face him. "I swear to god, Jaal -"

"I'm not joking," he growled. "I heard something. It was a... whisper of some sort."

Sara's nerves were sawing through her spine again. "Did anyone else -"

The door behind them slid open. If not for the mag-boots, Sara's feet might have left the floor; she stumbled backwards anyway, weapon raised.

But there was nothing there - just more stretching, darkened corridor.

"I don't like this," Reyes hissed.

Sara shook her head. "Me neither."

Scott chuckled nervously. "It's not like we can turn back now. How do we explain to Tann that we were too _scared_ to check it out?"

Sara gripped her gun a little tighter. "Let's move."

It wasn't long before the corridor abruptly widened. They entered a roughly cylindrical room, its circumference studded with obscure masses jutting towards the centre of the space. The structures were shrouded in darkness, so Sara couldn't make out any details.

Until she stepped closer.

The room was lined with pods full of dead angara. Un-living angara, more accurately; they were as still and smooth and unblemished as the incomplete creations in the Remnant city - but they were different, too. Jaal inhaled sharply. Reyes swore under his breath, and Scott muttered something that sounded like _holy hell_.

The angara had computers wired into their skulls. Sara hesitated to call them implants, because they were simply too large for the label. The enhancements were barely visible on the surface; just little strips of rippling wire protruding where the skin was thinnest. More noticeable were the huge, blackened bruises spreading outwards from their temples.

"SAM?"

"These angara are dead, Pathfinder."

"No kidding."

"Although the pods are not receiving any power, vacuum has stalled decomposition."

"What are those things in their heads?" Scott asked.

"They appear to be implants similar to those that you and the Pathfinder possess. Perhaps they were intended to allow interface with an AI like myself."

"There are no AI like you," Reyes said. Despite everything, there was a smile in his voice.

Sara was still jittery as hell, but she chuckled anyway. "Charmer."

"Mr. Vidal makes a valid point, Ryder. With that said, it appears that the implants belonging to these angara have been disrupted by some sort of electrical discharge. The surrounding tissue has been severely damaged."

That was when Sara heard it: a whisper, too faint to easily discern - and much too alien to understand. It curled around her synapses like a smoke around the edges of a welding torch; like a nebula skirting a gas giant's pull.

For a moment, she wondered if she was losing it. "Did you hear that?"

The others looked at her in alarm. They all shook their heads.

But SAM spoke up. "You are not hallucinating, Pathfinder. Something is stimulating your cochlear nerve."

They all flinched when a door on the opposite side of the room slid open - and the door behind them slid shut.

"Shit," Reyes snarled.

"Only one way to go," Sara said firmly. She could feel her heartbeat in her cheeks.

"That is incorrect," SAM told her. "The doors appear to be operated by targeted variations in voltage supply. I may be able to affect the vessel's power distribution to a sufficient degree to open them one at a time. If you wish to leave, we do possess the means."

"That's good to know," Scott said. "But we have to find out what the hell is going on here."

Sara glanced at Reyes, but he just winked at her. "Right behind you, Pathfinder."

Sara tried not to hold her breath as they moved through the next door. They found themselves in a wider corridor, this time, lined with glyphs that flickered in and out of existence like the rhythm of a frantic heartbeat. The returning power supply could be a good sign, but it could also be a very bad one. On the one hand, it probably meant they were getting closer to the source of the weirdness going on here -

The door slid shut behind them. That was definitely _not_ good.

Still, they kept walking. The vacuum-silence was almost overwhelming, but Sara could feel faint vibrations when mag-boots made contact with the deck. After a few minutes, the rhythm changed - and it took Sara a moment to realize it was because Scott had stopped.

"Scott?"

It took him even longer to respond.

"It's whispering again." He breathed into his helmet mic like he was afraid the faintest sound might stir some sleeping beast. "I - what the fuck is it saying?"

Sara wasn't sure what to say. "Scott…"

But then the whisper wormed its way into her head again, poking and prodding like a wisp of smoke with form. It was _speaking_ , Sara was sure, but the words were indecipherable. It sounded a little like angaran, but Sara's Shelesh was scattered at best - and her translator didn't appear to be able to process direct stimulation of her cochlear nerve.

"SAM? Translation?"

"I apologize, Pathfinder. Some of the words are angaran, but the logic bears similarities to the language of the Jaardan. I will require more data in order to interpret it for you."

Reyes' shoulders suddenly tensed. "It's talking to me now," he growled. He tapped an anxious pattern on his thigh. "There are a few words I know."

"What are they?" Sara asked - but Jaal waved a hand to silence them both.

"It is speaking clearly now," the angara said. "It asked what we are."

Sara hissed in frustration. "What?"

**_I did not ask what the angara is. I asked what you are._ **

Sara had to brace herself against a bulkhead. "SAM!?"

"Again, Pathfinder: you are not hallucinating. It is now speaking modern Shelesh."

**_You are all strange creations, but you are the strangest. Which one of you speaks?_ **

Sara didn't like this at _all_. "What the hell does that mean?"

Scott cleared his throat uncomfortably. "It's…asking me about you, Sara. It wants to know what you are."

"What?" She craned her neck to boggle at Scott, then saw Reyes' shoulders stiffen. She whipped around to look at him. "What did it say to you?"

Reyes shifted uncomfortably. "It said… _shit_. It said it knew we were coming _._ "

**_Are there others like you?_ **

Something beneath their feet shuddered - silently, but ominously, and much too energetically to be normal for a dormant ship. " _SAM_?"

"The vessel's inactive systems are coming back online, Pathfinder. It appears to be preparing for a jump to FTL."

Another quake rattled the ship - and Sara's heart leapt right up into her throat. "We're not going with it!" she shouted. "Can we shut it down, SAM?

"Negative, Pathfinder. Without vessel schematics, I cannot say with any certainty where the flight controls may be located."

"Oh hell no," Scott hissed.

And they ran.

Running in mag-boots was like running uphill through fine-grained sand. Scott and Jaal were taller and faster than Sara, and forward momentum soon saw them outstrip both her and Reyes - but they were forced to pause when they reached the sealed door. The ship was still rumbling. Sara could hear the seconds ticking away inside her skull.

**_What are you?_ **

"SAM!"

"I am working on it, Pathfinder."

Finally, the door slid open. Sara bolted through like there was a purification field on her heels, the others a scarce heartbeat behind her. They sprinted past the preserved angara, then through the second sealed door; down endless darkened corridors and across ominous empty spaces. Sara was gasping for air - and hardsuit oxygen supplies were _not_ meant for distance sprinting.

 _Shit_. This was taking too long. They were nearing the airlock they'd entered through, but how long could it take a ship to go to FTL?

"I have briefed the Tempest on the situation," SAM was saying.

"What happens if the ship goes to FTL with the Tempest still attached?"

"Without additional data -"

"Kallo," Sara hissed into her omni-tool. God, her lungs were burning. It couldn't be much farther. "Disengage the docking clamps. We'll pile into Reyes' shuttle."

Kallo sounded confused, but he didn't argue. "Understood, Pathfinder."

Sara crashed up against the airlock like a breaking wave. "Come _on_ ," she hissed as the runes began to flash. They stumbled into the airlock space as soon as the inner door opened, and Sara set to work on the outer. "Come on, come on, come on, come on -"

It seemed like a lifetime before the door finally gave way. Sara could see the Tempest floating a safe distance away, well and truly separated from the massive Remnant vessel. The ship was shaking alarmingly, now; shuddering like an antique car implanted with a modern engine. They scrambled across the hull like rats fleeing a sinking ship, mag-boots heavy as shackles. Scott quickly overtook the rest of them again; Reyes shouted a warning and transferred the shuttle codes to her brother's omni-tool. Scott opened the hatch the moment he was close enough for his device to interface - then leapt aboard, scrambling for the flight console as his mag-boots dropped their field.

"Don't bother with start-up!" Reyes yelled. He and Sara were still a good twenty or thirty metres away. Jaal was closer. "Just turn off the clamps!"

" _How?_ "

"Top-right on the left console! It's a flip switch!"

"Got it!"

Sara's lungs seized on a gasp as the shuttle began to drift away. Jaal was close enough to leap aboard, now; he disengaged his mag-boots and jumped into the open hatch, the impact of his landing enough to subtly disrupt the shuttle's inertia. The change sent it drifting backwards as well as up. There had to be at least two metres between the Remnant hull and the bottom of the shuttle by the time Sara and Reyes were close enough to jump. _Shit._

She grabbed his hand.

They jumped -

And the Remnant ship went to FTL.

There was no sudden suction as gases rushed back to fill the void, because there _were_ no gases this far from Tijorana. One moment, the ship was there - and the next, it wasn't.

It was gone.

Sara might have breathed a sigh of relief, but they had a more immediate problem. Even if Sara stretched her arm up as far as she could reach, her fingers weren't going to come close to connecting with the shuttle. Reyes was stretching out too, straining for a handhold - but the angle of their jump was all wrong.

Then Sara remembered her jump-jet. "Hang on!"

The jet fired once - then twice, when Sara adjusted the trajectory - and their new path carried them right past the open hatch. Jaal, holding tight to the vehicle frame with one hand, managed to seize Reyes' arm as they floated past. He dragged them both inside, grunting with the effort, and Reyes immediately scrambled for the pilot's chair.

Sara was still gasping for air when he closed the hatch behind them. "Holy. Shit."

Scott started to laugh. Jaal stared at him in open-mouthed shock - but Reyes started cackling as well, clinging to the edge of the flight console like he was afraid he'd fall down without it. Sara couldn't help it.

She started laughing too.

 

\---

 

Reyes brought the shuttle in to dock with the Tempest as soon as the giggling subsided. It would have been nice if the laughter could have died easily, but it didn't; he saw Sara's chest rising faster than it should have for much longer than their sprinting could explain, and her brother's flushed cheeks rapidly paled. Jaal's expression turned inscrutable - a bad sign for an angara. Reyes' stomach was hovering somewhere up inside his ribcage.

What the hell just happened?

No one seemed to want to ask the question, but Scott managed to croak out an approximation while the two ships' airlock seals were syncing. "Wow."

Reyes sighed - and he'd readily admit that he sounded a little shaky. "Yeah."

"What are we going to tell Director Tann?" Jaal asked.

Sara shook her head, bracing herself against a bulkhead as she keyed open the Tempest's outer airlock door. She sounded shaky, too. "No idea."

"We _did_ find a Remnant ship," Scott offered. "There's that."

"Any idea where it went, SAM?"

"No," the AI replied. "While the ship's initial trajectory may well take it towards the outer limits of the Heleus Cluster, the Scourge will likely force it to change direction. It is impossible to predict its eventual destination."

Sara sighed. "Figures."

Quiet trepidation awaited them on the Tempest. Reyes locked the shuttle's flight controls before he followed the rest of them aboard. It was old habit - mostly. He trusted the Tempest's crew about as much as he trusted anyone, but Peebee had been known to abscond with other people's transportation before. Sara hung back to wait for him, letting Scott and Jaal exit first. She gathered up Reyes' fingers when he joined her. She looked like she wanted to say something - but she was cut off when Peebee cannoned into them.

"What was it!?"

If not for her grip on Reyes, Sara might have been knocked right over. "Peebs!"

"I'm going out of my _mind_ ," Peebee wailed. She seized Sara's shoulders like she was planning to shake the information out of her - but Sara wriggled free of her grasp. "What did you see? SAM was recording, right? SAM, I need you to send it to my omni-tool - _yesterday_."

Sara sighed. "Do it, SAM."

"And it ran away!" Peebee continued. "Or left, anyway. Do you think it was actually fleeing, or was it following some sort of pre-programmed route? Or… did you activate something?" She rounded on Reyes. "What did you see? You took my mission spot, so you better be ready to -"

"Later," Reyes said firmly.

The rest of the crew had crowded into the Tempest's briefing room. None of them seemed quite as excited as the asari. In fact, most of them were rather pale, and even the turian's face was drawn. Liam had been slouched against the railing, but he bolted upright the moment he caught sight of Scott and Jaal climbing the ramp.

"Everyone okay?" He sounded like he really cared - and his vague gesture seemed to include Reyes. Reyes' relationship with Liam had been more than a little prickly to begin with, but the frost was beginning to thaw.

"Yes," Jaal rumbled. He clapped Liam on the shoulder and smiled reassuringly. "No one was injured."

"Good." Liam's eyes immediately swivelled to Sara. "What the hell happened?"

Finally. _Someone_ asked.

"It was…" Sara broke off, teasing her lower lip between her teeth. "I'm not sure. It had control of the ship, and it spoke Shelesh."

"But not at first," Jaal said.

Most of the others were wide-eyed, now - especially Suvi - but Cora's eyes narrowed. "Was it an AI?"

Sara shrugged. "Maybe."

Reyes let himself be ignored. He was good at fading into the Tempest's bulkheads, even if he should have stuck out like a sore thumb. A few of them really seemed to forget that he existed as they peppered Sara with questions. _Did it speak to you? What did it say? Was there anything else on board? How the hell did you find it?_ Reyes just listened; processing, but also _not_.

He had a feeling he might be in shock.

SAM's voice was a single note of calm in what was quickly becoming a cacophony. "Should I forward our findings to the Nexus, Pathfinder?"

"Yes." Sara glanced at Reyes, and he knew exactly what she was thinking. He was thinking it, too.

_Can we go back to Kadara now?_

Cora must have had an inkling of it as well, because she stepped up to fill the brief silence. "Chances are they'll want some sort of follow up," she said. "We should probably head back to the Nexus."

Sara sighed. "You're not wrong," she muttered. She shrugged at Reyes helplessly -

But SAM spoke up. "It may be advisable to delay our return." If the AI had a face, Reyes might have kissed him. "If Director Tann does have additional orders, an immediate return to the Nexus could delay our response time."

Sara's eyes lit up - even if Scott rolled his. "That sounds good to me."

They retreated to Sara's quarters, sheltering from the crew; from the slide of passing seconds and the inevitable orders from on high. Their hardsuits were discarded the moment the door hissed shut behind them. Sara kissed him, slow and soft and lingering, and Reyes let himself be guided - further into the room, at first, then down onto the couch. She pressed him back until he was lying flat, then slipped down onto the floor beside him.

"I have to say it, Reyes. A hardsuit really _suits_ you."

Reyes rubbed a hand over his eyes. _Shit_ , he was tired - but he chuckled under his breath, letting his hand fall back against the cushion beside his head. His feet were hanging over the other end of the couch, heavy like he still had the mag-boots on. Maybe he should have been more concerned by what they'd seen on the Remnant ship - but he honestly didn't have the energy for worry. There'd been no sign of the obliterated shuttle, at any rate, and thus no incriminating evidence. There would be no repercussions for the Collective's spying, and that was all Reyes had really set out to ensure.

There was Sara, too - _of course_ \- and her chin was resting on the fabric so they were almost eye to eye. He could smell her shampoo. She sighed, reaching out to trace little circles on his collarbone.

"What _was_ that thing?" She didn't sound worried. She sounded _flat_ , like she'd seen too many impossibilities to muster much surprise at finding another.

"I wish I knew." Reyes craned his neck to brush a clumsy kiss across her lips.

Her brows pulled together. Her blue eyes turned soft - just like they always did when she worried about him. "Are you tired?"

"Maybe."

"I forgot that I woke you up. How long did you sleep last night?"

"You won't be happy with me if I answer that truthfully."

Sara sighed. She kissed him back, clambering up onto the couch so that she could nestle in beside him. She laid her cheek against his chest. "I'm sorry. I wish I didn't have to cut my vacation short -"

"Shhh." Reyes' stroked her hair absently, smoothing it back from her forehead. Her skin was warm - like she carried a star around inside her. "We'll be back to it soon enough. Do you still have that list of things you want to try?"

He didn't have to see her to know she was blushing. "Mmhmm."

"Well, I know how we'll be spending our -"

Sara's omni-tool pinged. Reyes trailed off into a chuckle, fingers sliding down her neck to tug at the collar of her shirt instead. Sara arched into his touch. She sighed quietly.

Reyes wished that she'd turn the omni-tool off. She had to want exactly the same thing he did; to stay here forever, curled up in comforting warmth.

But she answered the call. "What is it?"

"I hate to interrupt," Kallo began, and it sounded like he really did. "But we've detected a mayday signal from a supply ship a few systems over. We're in the area…"

Sara looked at Reyes. She didn't need to say it.

The thought of moving caused him almost physical pain, but he shrugged. "Duty calls," he whispered.

Sara sighed. "Okay, Kallo. Tell them we're on our way."

"Acknowledged."

She slid further down the couch, groaning, then pressed her forehead flat against Reyes' stomach. "I'm so sorry -"

"I know. Later, okay?"

"I'll check it out," she murmured, planting a kiss beside his belly button. It tickled.

"And you'll be careful?" Being the Pathfinder was dangerous. Reyes had always known that - but the events on the Remnant ship had really driven it home.

Sara didn't acknowledge it. "Then," she went on, punctuating each word with a kiss to a new spot on his torso, "I'll report to the Nexus." She pushed herself up onto her elbows so she could press her last kiss into his lips. "And then I'll be right back on Kadara. I promise."

Reyes caught her lower lip between his teeth, nipping just hard enough to make Sara's next sigh turn sharp. "I'll hold you to that."

"All I heard is _I'll hold you_."

He laughed, kissing the words away. "You're becoming cornier than me." But his heart sank, because they both heard the words that no one said.

He wasn't going with her.

"I'll go home," he murmured. "And I'll make sure Kadara stays ours."

 

\---

 

Sara saw Reyes off with a kiss and a weary smile, but there was a lead weight dragging at the pit of her stomach.

Was this what the rest of her life would be like? There was plenty to be said for excitement and adventure - but no one wanted that forever. Peace could be as desirable as passion, and all Sara wanted right now was some moderation. Was that really too much to ask?

He murmured pretty words into her hair, of course, and Sara murmured them right back.

"I love you."

"I miss you already."

"We'll be together soon. I promise."

Still, Sara's heart tried to leave with the shuttle when it finally disengaged from the Tempest. A sharp pain flared behind her sternum when it went to FTL, like the ship was tethered to her ribcage - or like Reyes had tucked away a piece of her to take back to Kadara.

"Kallo?"

"Yes, Pathfinder?"

"Let's go check out that signal."

The route to the Inalaara system was more or less Scourge-free. A single FTL-tunnel saw them arrive in a few short minutes. Jaal came to stand beside Sara at the Tempest's bow as the stars blurred past.

"I know what it is like," he said quietly. "To leave someone you love. We will make this fast, hmm?"

Sara nodded. "Thanks, Jaal."

As always, Sara was struck by Inalaara's peaceful quiet. The asteroid field around the star protected the outer planets from the trails of its wispy flares, the drifting rocks splitting the light into pale, wandering beams. They danced across the Tempest's hull like aimless searchlights as the ship began a slow circumference of the system.

"Can we play the mayday, SAM?"

"Yes, Pathfinder, but the result would be meaningless. The signal we received is an automated distress call, so the message does not contain any useful information - except, of course, the vessel's ID and last known location.

"It's an Initiative supply ship," Kallo said. He was frowning at the piloting console, making minute course corrections. "The broadcast location is Novolori, the third planet from the star."

"Why would a supply ship be all the way out here?"

"It might have been on its way to H-047c," Kallo replied. "Meridian pilots are still working out the best routes from Saajor."

"Novolori," Jaal muttered. He picked at the hem of his rofjinn, shoulders suddenly tense. "The planet shares the name of one of our evil spirits. It has been the grave of many lost vessels."

"Ships often go missing here?" Sara rubbed her forearms, trying to bring her goose bumps down. "Like the Bermuda Triangle?"

"Novolori is a phantom - a wraith that snatches passing ships and suffocates their crews. Is Bermuda anything like that?"

Sara grinned. "I guess so. Hey, you should really -"

But SAM interrupted her. "I believe I have detected the source of the distress call, Pathfinder. The supply ship is currently orbiting Novolori."

"No life signs," Suvi said quietly.

Sara's grin faded. The goose bumps were back. "Bring us in closer, Kallo."

She resisted the urge to tap her foot as the Tempest swooped towards the gas giant. Novolori was colossal; a mammoth ochre sphere that loomed over the Tempest like impending doom given shape. Its surface was streaked with coloured bands of cloud that ranged from black to almost white. Sara had to wonder what it was that turned the storms dark.

It was several long, tense minutes before her wide eyes finally found what they were looking for. The Initiative supply ship was small; no more than three or four times the size of a standard shuttle. It was mapping a spherical orbit around the planet - but according to the sensor readouts SAM fed through to her omni-tool, its major systems were inactive.

"I'm attempting to open a comm channel," Suvi announced. "No response."

"Could this be…" Jaal trailed off - but they all knew what he was thinking. "I mean, is it just coincidence…?"

"Probably not." Sara sighed. "Bring us in to dock with the ship, Kallo. Jaal, you up for investigating another ghost ship?"

The angara nodded firmly. He didn't smile.

Scott came up to join them, of course, dragging Sara's hardsuit behind him. Cora and Liam both followed, and Cora helped Sara to pull all of her articulated armour plates back on over her underarmour as the Tempest came up beside the freighter. It took some fiddly work on Kallo's part to align the two ships, but they all felt it when the docking extension clamped down over the freighter's airlock.

"We good?" Scott asked.

"Almost." Sara shrugged her helmet on last of all. She'd had a dreadful thought. "SAM, can we scan for pathogens before we board?"

"Negative, Pathfinder. The Tempest is not equipped with suitable technology. Your handheld scanner will provide us with detailed information, however."

Beside her, Liam tensed. "So we've moved from jump-scare horror movie to classic virus outbreak?"

"You're being paranoid," Cora snarled at both of them. "Tell them, SAM."

"Lieutenant Harper is likely correct. But if it will put your mind at ease, Pathfinder, I will be happy to provide an analysis before any of your crewmates board the ship."

"But I'll have to go in first."

"Yes."

Scott clapped her on the shoulder. "This is stupid. Let's just go."

Neither Scott nor Jaal gave her the opportunity to go in alone when they moved into the airlock. There was a moment when both doors were closed - when the atmosphere shrank down to the space of a few tight-packed cubic metres - in which Sara wanted to scream at them to run.

It was irrational. It was paranoid. But she kept hearing that voice in her head; a fragmented memory only, but sharp and clear as a bell.

She was grateful when SAM's voice chased it away. "Mr. Jath is about to open the outer airlock. Would you like me to scan for pathogens?"

"Please."

She brought the scanner up the moment the door opened. The freighter was dark, and the warm light from her omni-tool sent stripes of orange sliding over the bulkheads. She walked forward slowly - and realized she could hear her footsteps.

"There's air in here, SAM?"

"Yes, Pathfinder. It is breathable."

"Nothing nasty?"

"The air appears to be free of pathogens. I will alert you should I detect anything dangerous."

The airlock led into the freighter's cargo hold. It was packed full of Initiative-stamped crates strapped to the deck with broad polymer tethers. The space was silent, but the familiar design helped calm Sara's nerves a little. She'd spent six hundred years enclosed by bulkheads just like these. Maybe it _was_ stupid to be so -

There was a _bang_ close behind her. Scott stumbled backwards, shaking his hand like he'd burned it. " _Fuck_!"

Sara's heart was pounding somewhere up behind her larynx. If he'd been close enough, she might have punched him. "What!?"

"Shit, Sara, there's a -" He took a shaky breath. He pointed at a gap between the crates. "There's a body."

It wasn't anyone they knew. The thin frame of a spacer was twisted up between the crates. She was clad in standard Initiative fatigues, though she'd patched the shoulder with some symbol of her own. Her brown eyes were wide and staring, and there was a huge bruise on her temple. It looked like someone had splattered black paint across her brow.

Jaal was the first to speak. "That looks like…"

"Like the angara on the Remnant ship," Scott finished. "The bruise. It's the same."

Sara swallowed hard. "SAM? Any insights?"

"Her death appears to be the result of extensive injury to her neural tissues, Pathfinder. The bruise is an indicator of damage to the surrounding vascular tissue."

"I guess that doesn't mean someone just…hit her on the head, right?"

"No, Pathfinder."

"We should find the bridge," Scott said. He was speaking quickly, like he was afraid to pause for breath. "That's where the distress call will have been initiated. That's where we'll find our answers."

"Something incapacitated this ship," Jaal murmured. "And it was not Novolori." He glanced at Sara, his visor glinting eerily from inside his helmet. "We have seen these injuries elsewhere. I believe the conclusion is obvious."

Sara agreed with him - but an obvious conclusion wasn't enough. She needed to know how. She needed to know _why_.

Without that, none of this made sense.

They found more bodies in the corridors, lying scattered in the passageways like someone had flipped a switch in their heads; like one moment they were fine - and the next, they'd stopped breathing. They all wore Initiative uniforms. Two, they found side by side, clinging to each other with fingers locked in rigor.

Sara was chewing on the inside of her lip. She had to force herself to stop.

The bridge was small, with room for only one pilot. That made sense for a freighter, Sara supposed. Minimizing bridge space meant maximizing cargo space - and it meant there was only one body. He was almost certainly the captain. He was in his fifties, Sara figured; old for an Initiative member, but not too old for active service. He was sprawled across the comms console, grasping at the frame. His bruise covered almost the entire left side of his face.

Sara pointed her scanner at him. Like the others, he was whole and healthy.

Except for the neural damage, of course. And the fact that he wasn't breathing.

SAM's voice was the only thing that kept Sara's heart rate in check. "You can deactivate the distress call from this console, Pathfinder. I have been able to gain access to the ship's systems. I have found something that may be of interest."

"What is it?" Scott asked. His fists were clenched tight at his sides.

"Firstly, a flight plan. The freighter was indeed en-route to H-047c."

"So?" Sara shut down the mayday signal with a few quick taps on the console input.

"I have also managed to locate the captain's most recent emergency log. Per Initiative protocol, the activation of alert status automatically initiates recording on the bridge."

Behind her, Jaal growled softly. "We are about to see this man die."

"That is very likely," SAM confirmed.

Sara called up the vid display on her omni-tool. She had to know how. She had to know why.

"Go ahead."

The image was grainy, but it was there. They saw the captain braced against the comms console, gripping the structure like his legs might give way beneath him. He clutched at his head - then screamed into the input mic, fumbling for the automated mayday.

"I don't understand you!" He wobbled dangerously. "I don't know who you're talking about!"

A short-lived silence followed. Sara was holding her breath.

Scott's fingers dug into her shoulder. "It's that _thing_. It's speaking to him."

The captain was screaming again. "Others like _who_? I don’t -"

He seized, suddenly, going rigid like a man caught in a lightning strike; drawn taut like some unknown power had seized him by the neck and _pulled_ -

And then he collapsed, skull bouncing once on the metal floor. Tendrils of black and purple were spreading across his brow.

And the image vanished.

"The video continues for the hour mandated by Initiative protocol," SAM said. His voice grated in the silence. "But there is no further movement, Pathfinder."

Sara was finding it hard to breathe. "Maybe the thing we found on the Remnant ship didn't do this. It didn't kill us, right? If it could cause _this_ , why would it let us go?"

Jaal shook his head. "We cannot know. Not yet."

"SAM," Sara began. Her vocal cords cracked like glaciers. "Connect me to Suvi, please."

The science officer responded barely a moment later. "Pathfinder?"

"I need you to scan the system for any trace of Remtech. Anything at all."

Suvi hummed thoughtfully into her microphone. "There's… not much, Pathfinder. In fact, there's no Remtech here at all. There is an emission trail, though."

"What do you mean?"

"Novolori's upper atmosphere is very easily ionized. Based on what I'm seeing right now… something rounded this planet on its way towards Remav. Something _big._ "

Scott swore quietly. Jaal sighed.

But Sara squared her shoulders. "We're going to Remav."

 

\---

 

They were back on the Tempest sooner than Sara might have thought possible. She clung to the back of Kallo's chair as they powered through their FTL corridor, her fingers digging so deep into the padded supports that they began to hurt. Her omni-tool pinged with an email from Reyes.

 

_To: Sara Ryder_

_From: Reyes Vidal_

_Remnant ship sighted in Remav. H-047c under attack._

_Where are you?_

 

She kept her answer brief.

 

_To: Reyes Vidal_

_From: Sara Ryder_

_On my way._

"What will we even do when we get there?" Scott sounded angry - but she knew he wasn't, really. He was scared. "The Tempest isn't built for combat. And what would we even do to fight a ship that big?"

SAM spoke up in Sara's defence. "The Remnant ship did not appear to possess conventional weapons either, Scott."

"Who cares?" Liam muttered. "Whatever the hell that thing really is, it killed those people just by getting in their heads."

"That does appear to be the case," SAM confirmed.

Sara glowered at the flight console. "Thanks for the pep talk, guys. Really helping."

"We should alert the Nexus," Cora said. "SAM - let them know what's going on."

"I would appreciate it if you could also notify the Resistance," Jaal rumbled. "This…entity. This Remnant phantom - we cannot trust that it only harms Milky Way species."

"Of course, Mr. Ama Darav."

They arrived to find Remav in chaos.

The Remnant ship loomed large over the shattered remains of H-047c, its shadow stretching long like blackened flesh over a wound. Sara had expected the Tempest to stumble into silence, like it had done in Inalaara. Space was _always_ silent - but Sara was still sure she could hear screaming.

Remav's exiles were fleeing the planet. Dozens upon dozens of shuttles were making a break for the edge of the system, swerving wildly whenever the shadow crossed their paths. There was no organized evacuation procedure; no rhyme or reason to their winding trajectories. It was a frenzied dash for safety. It was every man for himself.

Not all of them made it. Some shuttles went strangely still, inertia carrying them to fiery ends on the face of the shattered planet's sheer peaks. Others collided with rock debris, while some twitchy-fingered pilots swerved into the paths of other ships. The unlucky ones went up in flashes of orange light, the flames quickly snuffed by the vacuum of space.

Sara's ribcage felt like it was shrinking; condensing her lungs to a trembling handspan.

**_There must be others. I will find them._ **

Suddenly, Sara couldn't breathe at all.

"What do we do?" Suvi asked. Her voice was shaking, but it lacked the pure resonance of Sara's rejuvenated terror. Suvi clearly hadn't heard it speak.

"We can't fight it," Scott repeated.

Sara gripped Kallo's chair even tighter. "Get me a comm channel."

" _What_?"

"We can't fight, so we talk. Can you do it, Kallo?"

The pilot nodded sharply, fingers dancing across his console too quickly for Sara to follow. "There. We're broadcasting at the ship, Pathfinder."

"What do you want?" Sara's voice was unsteady.

There was no response.

"Are you sure it can hear me, Kallo?"

"We're within broadcast range," the pilot replied. Still, his fingers flicked across his console furiously. "Our signal is definitely reaching it. Whether or not it can actually hear us…"

Sara squared her shoulders. Shuttles were still launching from the planet; bolting into open space like mice fleeing a nest.

"What are you?"

Sara's voice was harder, this time; steely. Still, she nearly leapt out of her skin when the entity's response echoed through her skull.

**_What are you?_ **

"I'm the human Pathfinder," she croaked.

**_I am the last._ **

The tension on the bridge skyrocketed. Clearly, the crew could hear it too.

"The last what?"

Sara chewed on her lower lip, wondering if it could hear her thoughts. She tried to keep her mind blank - just in case it _could_ \- but that was damn near impossible. The last of the Remnant? The last of the Jaardan? The last of…something else?

**_I am the last_.**

"Did you kill those spacers in Inalaara?"

There was no answer.

Sara sent Scott a single, helpless glance. He shrugged just as helplessly in return. "What the hell is -"

**_Are there others like you?_ **

Sara frowned. "Humans? Yes."

No response.

"There are other Pathfinders, too." She almost stumbled over herself in her haste when Scott pointed at himself, as well. "And I have a brother."

Still nothing.

Something cold settled in Sara's chest. "Did you kill those spacers?"

**_Are there others like you?_ **

"I just _told_ you -"

"Pathfinder," SAM cut in. "The entity is attempting to obtain command access to your implant. It is unable to bypass my firewall -"

The bridge erupted in screams.

Scott's scream was the loudest. Sara grabbed his arm, horror lancing down her spine - just in time for Scott's knees to give out beneath him. He collapsed onto the deck, head thrown back and muscles clenching; tendons standing taut as he howled. Sara was dragged down with him.

She was surrounded by pain. Kallo had fallen forward onto the console, shrieking wordlessly. Suvi was in a similar state, and so were all the others.

"Scott!" Sara clutched at his face, like she hoped her desperate fingers might somehow bring him back to his senses; like familiar hands might somehow stop the convulsions. "Scott! SAM, what the hell is happening?"

"The entity is causing severe electrical disturbances in the crew's peripheral nervous systems. It is likely that this is how the spacers in the Inalaara system died."

"How do I stop it!?"

Scott's eyes had rolled back into his head. His screaming ended in a ragged choking sound; a gasp for air that wouldn't come -

"Unknown. I suggest you take the Tempest to FTL."

Sara leapt for the flight console, though leaving Scott's side made her skin burn like she'd been splashed with acid. His silence was worse than his screaming. Behind her, the other screams were dying away, too - one by one, like frequencies flickering out at the edge of EM contact range. _Fuck_ \- if any of them died here - if any of them didn't make it out alive -

She had to lean over Kallo's twitching body to reach the flight console. "SAM! What do I do?"

"I will make the necessary course adjustments. You must disengage Mr. Jath's manual control."

"How!?"

"The button beside Mr. Jath's left hand."

Sara slammed her fist down. The Remav system warped; shifted; blurred - and finally disappeared behind them as the Tempest entered an FTL tunnel.

Beneath her, Kallo groaned. "What in the…"

Sara's fingers flew to his neck. She had no idea what a salarian pulse was meant to feel like. Was it normal for it to race like this? "Are you okay?"

"I'm not sure."

A chorus of coughing and choking gasps filled the bridge behind her. Scott hauled himself onto his hands and knees. He clutched at his head, wincing when his fingers grazed his temple.

"Holy hell," he grunted. "What _was_ that?"

Sara couldn't find the words. She reached for them, though. "I…"

SAM covered for her. "The entity appears to be capable of interfering with organic nervous systems from across large distances. I was able to prevent any harm to the Pathfinder, but it encountered no resistance when it turned its efforts on you."

Scott rolled over onto his haunches, grimacing. "Well, then. Another reason to wish I had an AI partner."

Sara's lips felt numb. "Is everyone else okay?"

"Barely," Cora muttered. The others merely nodded, muffling groans and rubbing their eyes. They each had a purpling bruise spreading across one temple.

"Ryder!"

Liam was crouched by the door. Jaal was still on the floor beside him.

His eyes were closed, and he wasn't moving.

Liam sounded strangled. "Jaal…he's got a pulse, but…"

 _Shit._ "Liam -"

"I can't wake him up."

 

\---

 

The Govorkam system was _boring_. When had that happened?

Reyes didn't really need to ask, of course; peace and quiet had become a simple matter of course under the watchful eye of the Collective's patrols, and the excesses allowed by Kadara's deposed queen were well and truly a thing of the past. A patrol ship scanned Reyes' shuttle when he dropped out of FTL. Normally, they simply let him pass without comment - but today, they sent him a message.

"Hey, Vidal. Dohrgun asked to see you when you land. Might want to be careful - she sounded pretty mad."

"Thanks." Reyes wondered what could be so urgent. He'd been in contact, after all; it wasn't as if he'd dropped off the grid to go chasing down Sara's Remnant ship. "I'll head over to the palace right away."

It was still a struggle to sound appropriately timid. He was a little surprised by how difficult he found it to keep up the image of the small-time, subordinate smuggler. He was going to have to work on that, but he was surprised by other things, too; how little pleasure it brought him to drop out of FTL into the warmth of Govorkam's star, and how tight that ball of anxiety coiled inside his ribcage.

It wasn't that he was _worried,_ of course. He and Sara had said goodbye so many times, and in so many ways, that he'd learned to stop fearing she wouldn't return. He had more faith in her than he'd ever had in anybody - and if anyone could take care of the Pathfinder, it was definitely Sara herself.

But this was a new and foreign fear. Usually, Sara was the one leaving _him_. She'd strap on her armour and be swallowed by the pale sky - and Reyes would watch her vanish, his blood flow turning sluggish and his heart beating slower in his chest. He'd miss her, of course, but it was longing with a moving locus. It was a ceaseless pull, but it was one that was difficult to chase.

This time, though, Reyes was leaving her.

And he didn't like it.

His landing was as smooth as always. There was a time when Reyes' average altitude had been higher than most men climbed in their lives, but those days were far behind him. He was pleased - and very satisfied - to find that his skills hadn't dulled at all. He couldn't help but swagger a little as he made his way through Kadara Port. He didn't dawdle, precisely, but he definitely didn't hurry to attend Keema's summons. She had plenty of vassals for that - and it wouldn't do for Kadara's stand-in queen to begin to believe her own press - so he bought a snack on his way through the market. He was still munching on it when he entered Keema's throne room.

She sent her guards away when he approached. "Reyes."

There was something about her tone; something about the way her round eyes narrowed. His swagger halted.

"Is something wrong?"

Keema gave her head a half-shake. It wasn't a denial. "I've just had an update from our crews on H-047c. The planet is… well, I'm not completely sure. But the planet is under attack."

Reyes frowned. He went to stand beside her, tapping a rhythm on the arm of her chair. "Kett?"

"No." Keema's hands were tightly clasped, knuckles turning white with strain. "The messages are garbled, but they seem to be under an assault by the Remnant."

Something cold slid down Reyes' spine. "Bots?"

"A ship. Huge, apparently." She paused. "Are you listening to me?"

He was already keying in the Tempest's frequency on his omni-tool. There was no answer - so he started on an email instead.

"Reyes?"

_To: Sara Ryder_

_From: Reyes Vidal_

_Remnant ship sighted in Remav. H-047c under attack._

_Where are you?_

"Reyes." He came back to himself when Keema seized his arm, strong fingers digging into his sleeve. "Do you know something about this?"

"Pull our people out." Reyes jerked free. He spun on his heel, heading for the door. "If that ship is what I think it is, we don't have the firepower to do anything about it."

"Where are you going?"

"Let me know if you hear anything else."

 

_To: Reyes Vidal_

_From: Sara Ryder_

_On my way._

 

Reyes kept his pace measured as he made his way back through the market. His shoulders stayed relaxed, and his breathing stayed even - but his heartbeat was erratic. His pulse faltered like a rover without traction.

He sprinted the last few feet to his shuttle.

The Collective patrols sent him another message as he made his way to the edge of the system. "Leaving already, Vidal?"

"I've got somewhere to be."

He wasn't used to leaving her - and he definitely didn't like it.

The trip to Remav shouldn't have taken long at FTL. Maybe it was just some obscure effect of general relativity, but Reyes could have sworn that the flight corridor stretched out forever. It seemed like hours before he finally arrived in the system, and lifetimes before his brain made sense of the scene around him.

Remav was quiet.

It wasn't a peaceful quiet. It was quiet like a bombsite in the lull after a shockwave; like the bottom of a launch pad once the roaring fades away. The Remnant ship was there, half its hull illuminated by Remav's pale rays. The other half stayed in shadow, darkness leaking over the rocks as the colossus tracked a steady orbit. Reyes' sensors weren't picking up any signs of the Tempest, but H-047c's surface was dotted with wreckage - and ringed by drifting shuttles.

Lots of ships. Zero life signs.

Shit.

**_You are looking for her_.**

Reyes' stomach filled with ice. It was the voice of the Remnant entity; that _thing_ that tried to kidnap them and worm into their heads. Reyes would have liked to think he was losing it.

But he knew he wasn't.

**_They were not like her._ **

"What the hell are you?" It was rhetorical, really, because there was no way the thing could _hear_ him - but it responded anyway.

**_If there are others, I must find them. Are there others like her?_ **

"What _others_? Why?"

He should probably just turn tail and run - but where to? Reyes' shuttle was fast for its size, but the immense Remnant ship could grind him into space dust before he even broke FTL. He could call Sara - but the Tempest would be just as helpless. There was something in his head, buzzing around between the folds in his grey matter; a quiet, pervasive droning, like the hum of a wetlands summer or the background noise of a busy airfield.

**_You are connected to her. Perhaps you understand._ **

A fierce pain flared in Reyes' temple, spreading through his body like fire down a fuse.

The world went white. The world went _hot_.

He collapsed against the flight console, clutching at the edges with arms that wouldn't bend and fingers that didn't feel. He couldn't lift his head. He couldn't breathe.

**_Explain this connection. Does she feel your pain?_ **

Reyes couldn't find the air to respond. His nerveless fingers fumbled for the FTL controls - but the pain redoubled, and Reyes went crashing to the floor. The world went whiter. The world went hotter.

**_Perhaps not._ **

Maybe this was it. Maybe Reyes was going to die - but he'd be damned if he didn't get the last word.

"Fuck you."

 

\---

 

When the world finally took shape again, Reyes couldn't feel his legs.

He wasn't sure where he was, either. Something huge and yellow-radiant was burning beyond the window to his left, vivid like a drive core on the brink of overloading. He raised one hand to shield his eyes from the glare. He was sprawled on a low-slung couch, with a coffee table on one side and an unmade bed on the other.

Wait. How did he wind up on the Tempest?

Reyes struggled to his feet - and fell right back onto his ass again. His head was spinning circles like someone had poured his brains through an oil filter. Clutching the back of the couch for support, he made to try again -

"Don't leave yet." Sara's voice came from behind him. Her hands settled on his shoulders, warm and soft and comforting; holding him still, like a runway tether in a storm.

Reyes' hands went straight to hers, drawing them forward so they linked like a clasp over his heart. He leaned into her, head falling back so he could look into her eyes. She smiled down at him, back-lit by the blazing star, and leaned in to kiss his nose. He wrinkled it when her hair tickled his face, relishing her pleased little giggle.

"I don't want you to go," she murmured.

The pain in Reyes' head was gone. Things were still a little fuzzy, but Reyes wasn't worried. In Sara's smile lay safety. In her eyes lay patient love.

"What happened?" he asked her.

"You're okay." She kissed his lips, this time, sighing into his mouth like she was shipwrecked and he was sunny sand. "Will you stay with me?"

That pulled a sigh from Reyes' lips as well. How could he say no? She was all he really needed - and sometimes all he wanted, too. There were moments her smile even managed to satisfy that hungering chasm at his core.

Nothing lasted forever, but he'd take what he could get.

Reyes reached up to slide his palm around the back of her neck. At first, his quiet pleas were resisted - but she relented like folding silk, clambering over the couch to join him. She swung around to straddle his hips, arms stretched out over his shoulders. Her kiss was quiet softness - and trembling, desperate need.

Reyes couldn't have said how long they stayed like that, firm hands skimming tender flesh. Their sighs morphed with the starlight; harsher with the red shifts, and softer with the blues. Reyes' head was still swimming, but he honestly didn't care. Sara was dragging her fingertips along his scalp, mumbling praise like some quiet, endless prayer. Eventually, she pulled away - and however long it took, it wasn't nearly long enough.

"Will you tell me something?"

"Anything you want," Reyes breathed.

It was the kind of hyperbole that normally made her shiver like vibrating glass, but Sara's fingers twisted in his hair. "Am I the only one?"

Reyes frowned. "What kind of question is that?"

"Am I?"

Maybe he should have known something was wrong, but Sara's eyes were a glittering mire. They were deep enough to drown in, and warm enough to lull him into breathless sleep. Reyes blinked furiously, trying to silence that buzzing in his head.

It didn't work.

"Yes. You are."

She frowned, then, like his answer wasn't enough for her; like it would never be enough, no matter how loudly he screamed it. "Are there others like me?"

Something finally turned over in Reyes' head, forcing its way to the surface of his sluggish, twisting thoughts. He seized Sara's forearms, his breath catching in his throat as her grip on his hair tightened. He couldn't bring himself to force her away, even if her eyes were cold; couldn't bring himself to hurt her, even if the pull was painful.

Even if it wasn't really her.

"Sara?"

"Are there others like me?"

Reyes tried to scramble out from beneath her, but his legs wouldn't seem to obey. "Get off me."

She sighed, the light fading from her eyes like every star in every system was surrendering to one final darkness -

And then she was gone. The couch was gone, the Tempest was gone - and the light was, too.

**_Are there others like her?_ **

Reyes didn't answer.

The world warped again, the sharp lines of reality blurring and breaking until nothing of his conscious mind remained. Reyes' head was aching. He couldn't see. It was becoming difficult to breathe -

Awareness came back to him slowly. He was lying on his back, his spine stretched out along a hard mattress. The quiet beeping of medical monitors was the first thing to reach his ears.

But then he heard Sara.

She gasped. It was a breathless sound of terror, like panic had wrenched the air from her lungs. Reyes' eyes flew open, and even though the world was still spinning - even though his vision was a blurry wash of melded colour and fragmented light - Reyes scrambled off the bed to reach her.

"Sara?"

He was in the Tempest's med bay. Sara was hunkered over on a bed across from his, curled in on herself like she was nursing a bullet wound - and that the conclusion Reyes leapt to, of course; right to the prospect of disaster. He scrambled over to her side, falling to his knees next to the bed. He fumbled for her hand.

She raised her eyes to look at him. They were full of fear. Reyes could see tears clinging to her lashes. "I can't…I can't feel SAM."

"What?" The smell of disinfectant was almost overwhelming. Reyes couldn't think.

"SAM's gone!"

"Sara -" Reyes' vision was beginning to settle, but his head was still foggy. "How can he be -"

"What's going to happen to me?" Sara clutched at her stomach, voice cracking with fear.

"You're going to be all right." Reyes squeezed her hand, clinging to her like the cold floor beneath him was really a storm-tossed sea. His heart was battering at his ribs like it was striving for a clean break. "I promise."

"But what's going to happen?"

"I - I don't really know -"

"You must know!"

Reyes' brain was barely working - but something in her voice finally brought him back to himself.

She pulled at his fingers like she was trying to bring him to his knees. "What's going to happen to me?"

"Stop this," Reyes growled. Disappointment was cold in his belly. Fear was tightening around his neck like a noose. "I know what you're doing."

Sara's tears abruptly stopped. Her face lost all emotion. Her touch turned cold.

**_I must know._ **

Reyes' surroundings disintegrated all over again. He sighed into the silent storm of leached-out colour, ready for some new manipulation - but it didn't come. He found himself slumped on the deck inside the Remnant ship, cheek scrunched against a cold bulkhead. He shivered - and his brain turned a somersault when he glanced down.

He was back in his hardsuit, helmet lying on the deck beside him. The tips of his gloves were scraped and dirty. The pads over his knees were in a similar state.

Had he crawled his way aboard?

**_Are there others like her?_ **

Reyes didn't know what the thing wanted to hear, and he didn't know what it would do with the information. He'd spent a lot of time thinking about how he'd handle an interrogation, though. Small concessions could turn into big ones before the tortured even knew what was happening. Tiny slips could start a landslide.

So he wouldn't say a thing.

He closed his eyes instead - and waited for the pain to start.

But it didn't. Somewhere to his right, he heard a door slide open. Cautious footsteps met his ears, and whispers inadequately hushed.

"Am I almost there, SAM?"

Lightning snapped down Reyes' spine. He jolted upright, fumbling unseeing at the deck. It couldn't be Sara. This was another illusion; a Remnant manipulation of light and sound and neural patterns -

"Reyes!"

She called his name in a trembling rush, sprinting towards him on desperate feet. The world spun in circles again when his bleary eyes finally found her. Her cheeks were flushed. Her eyes were wide.

"Reyes -" She collapsed beside him. Gentle hands pulled him into her arms, and careful fingers brushed his hair back from his forehead. "Oh my god."

"Sara." This couldn't be real - could it? "How did you…" His dry throat cracked with the strain. "How did you find me?"

She pressed her lips to his forehead. Her skin was so warm. "SAM helped," she murmured. "And the rest of the crew. Are you okay?"

"I think so." Reyes grimaced. He might even be telling the truth - but everything hurt. "Does this mean I've been adopted by the Tempest family?"

Sara giggled rather breathlessly. "Yes." She started stroking his hair, pressing Reyes' cheek against her chest. She repeated her answer in a shivering sigh. " _Yes_."

"Do you have a plan to get us out of here?"

"I wish -" Sara's voice broke. She kissed his forehead again, and Reyes could feel her holding back a sob. "I wish I wasn't the only Pathfinder."

Reyes frowned. "You're not." He could already feel his muscles tensing; already feel his heart hardening again. For a moment, he'd actually dared to hope. He'd really thought that maybe -

"But are there others like _me_?"

Reyes pushed her away - and she fell back on her haunches with a growl. Her blue eyes flashed white. Her precious warmth turned cold.

**_Are there others like her?_ **

Artwork and banner by the wonderful spacesquirrel ([tumblr](https://spacesquirrel.tumblr.com/) and [AO3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/space_squirrel) and [direct art link](http://imgur.com/QOdTEkA))

\---

 

Sara's ears were ringing.

"Jaal will be all right," Lexi was saying.

Sara knew the words should have made sense; her translator was functioning, and she was pretty certain Lexi could have switched to English if she needed to - but _nothing_ made sense right now.

"We all experienced the electromagnetic disturbances generated by the… _entity,_ but Jaal suffered amplified effects. I suspect it may have something to do with his species' natural bioelectricity."

Sara cleared her throat. "Is he… in a coma, or something?"

The quiet _beeps_ of Jaal's heart rate monitor were threatening to drive Sara insane. She couldn't bear to look at him; at the darkened, swollen mass on his temple, or at his still and pale skin. She couldn't look at Lexi, either, because the doctor had a bruise just like it. They all did.

Except Sara.

"No," Lexi answered gently. She was never the touchy-feely type, but she put a hand on Sara's arm. "His brain activity is returning to normal. I suspect he'll wake up soon."

"Thanks," Sara murmured. "Let me know if there's any change."

The climb up to the bridge was exhausting. Sara was still trying to process everything that had happened in Remav, but she wasn't having a lot of luck. The memories were fresh - but they were fragmented, too. Everything was warped; twisted up in tendrils of cloying smoke. They whispered questions in her ear.

_Are there others like you?_

The crew were all waiting for her on the bridge. They'd crowded into the corners like uninvited guests, watching her with wary eyes as she moved to her usual spot beside Kallo. Gil had made the trip from engineering, too. He'd covered his bruise with an Initiative baseball cap.

"What's the plan?" Peebee asked. A day like this, steeped in Remtech and adrenaline, should have had her squealing with joy - but the asari's demeanour was muted. Her bruise blended with the black across her eyes.

Sara shook her head. She wanted to tell them that she had no idea; that she had no more insights than anybody else - but Suvi spoke up before she had the chance.

"We've received a transmission from Evfra," she said. "An angaran patrol just passed through Remav. The system's been…"

"What, Suvi?"

"His words were ' _cleared out_ '."

"We need to go back," Sara murmured. Anxious whispers met her words, of course, but she spoke right over them. "If Evfra's people made it out safely, the Remnant ship must have moved on. We can't justify -"

"Pathfinder."

"What, SAM?"

"An Initiative observation post has recorded a sighting of the Remnant ship. It is on a course for the Pytheas system."

Sara's stomach dropped right down through her toes.

"Prodromos," Liam hissed.

Sara's voice sounded strangled. "We have to catch it."

"And do _what_?" Gil snapped. "Maybe I'm devil's advocate, but -"

"I don't know," Sara snarled.

But her blood was running cold. Her skin was made of ice.

They didn't have a choice.

They scattered, then; Gil to engineering and the others to the armoury. Sara still had her armour on, so she clung to the railing at the bow as Kallo took them back to FTL. Scott brought her a gun as the blurring waves slid past - and Sara was pathetically grateful.

"Thanks."

"How are you going to play this?" Scott's voice was low. It was tight, too, like tearing fabric stretched to breaking point.

"I don't have a fucking clue."

The drop from FTL was almost bracing. They fell into Pytheas' light like a shard of ice into warm water. The bright light made Sara blink - but she froze at the sight of the Remnant ship. Its shadow was a splash of black against Eos' matte surface.

What happened next was entirely expected.

**_Are there others like you?_ **

The words echoed in her skull, building and repeating until Sara's head threatened to explode. She sent Kallo a pointed look, and the pilot quickly opened a transmission. He nodded once the channel was established. Sara still didn't know what the entity really wanted - but it clearly wasn't after her family history. It clearly didn't care that she was one amongst many.

"No."

**_You are the last?_ **

"I am the _first_ ," Sara hissed. Scott laid a hand on her shoulder, fingers digging deep into the muscle.

**_You are alone?_ **

Sara didn't know how to answer. "I don't know why you're doing this," she began. Her icy skin was tingling. Her tired lungs were cold. "But you need to stop. We haven't done anything to you. Leave us in peace, and we'll leave you in peace, too."

A stretching silence followed her words. For a moment, Sara thought that maybe it had listened -

**_You are alone?_ **

Sara might have hit something, if not for Scott's pressure on her shoulder. " _No_ ," she snarled. "I'm not alone."

**_Then there are others like you._ **

"What do you mean? For fuck's sake -"

**_Others with two minds. Two lives._ **

Oh. Sara could have breathed a sigh of relief, because she finally understood.

It was asking about SAM.

"No. There are no others." There were other Pathfinders, of course, and other SAMs, as well - but none entwined as closely as Sara and her partner.

There was a pause.

**_Then come to me. Alone. Open your mind, and prove you speak the truth. I will depart._ **

Scott's fingers dug deeper. He hissed something in her ear that sounded like _no fucking way._

Sara frowned. "Why do I need to come aboard?"

**_If you will not, then I must confirm the truth by other means._ **

"How?"

**_You have seen my methods._ **

Beside her, Scott went rigid. The hand on Sara's shoulder flew to his head instead. He clutched at his skull, slow-drawn convulsions dragging up his spine -

"Stop!" Panic locked around Sara's throat, squeezing tight enough to halt her breathing. " _Stop_!"

Thankfully, it listened.

Sara could have cried with relief when her brother's bunching muscles relaxed. He doubled over, panting; clinging to Sara for support. Sara could see Suvi watching on in horror.

**_I must know there are no others._ **

"SAM can show you our records," Sara stammered. "We can prove -"

**_That is not sufficient._ **

"I'm not just going to walk into -"

**_There is someone here you know._ **

"What?" Its inflection hadn't changed, but something about the way it spoke made Sara's heartbeat falter.

**_He is a liar._ **

For a moment, Sara couldn't respond. "What the _fuck_ is going on?"

**_Prove you speak the truth._ **

Sara didn't believe it. Maybe _it_ was the liar. "Call Reyes, SAM."

She waited in breathless silence while the comm request went out. Scott's breathing was a little easier, now, and Sara was grateful for the fury in his eyes.

"SAM?"

"Mr. Vidal is not responding, Pathfinder."

Sara's heart was climbing her ribs; pressing against her oesophagus in a mad bid to escape. She wanted to threaten. She wanted to scream.

Because the entity wasn't lying.

But even if it had been, Sara couldn't think of another way to fight it. The Tempest was unarmed. Prodromos was defenceless against an enemy like this one. The Initiative was defenceless, too, and so were the angara. So were the Exiles.

Hell. The entity probably _was_ going to kill her; to trap her on a one-way trip to dark space, maybe, like it had tried to do in Nalesh - but there was nothing else that Sara could do. She knew what it wanted, now.

It wanted her. It wanted SAM.

She'd make sure it didn't want anyone else.

"I'll do it," she snarled.

Scott's grip on her arm tightened. "Sara, you _can't._ "

"Do you see another option?"

He fell silent, then - because the answer was obvious. There _was_ no other option.

Kallo and Suvi saw it, too. They exchanged nervous looks as Sara snatched up her helmet. "Bring us in to land on the ship's hull, Kallo. Same position as last time."

The rest of the crew must have heard the exchange, because Liam and Peebee rushed to waylay her at the airlock. Scott hovered nearby, fists clenched.

Liam clapped her on the arm. He didn't try to argue. He didn’t try to soothe. "You know what this thing's about, Pathfinder. Just…be ready."

But Peebee hugged her, arms locking tight around her neck. "I'll keep my omni-tool frequency open," she said. Her voice sounded thicker than usual. "You find anything good in there, you _tell me._ Got it?"

"Sure thing, Peebs." Sara didn't want to let her go - even when the whispers crawled back into her skull.

**_Do not delay._ **

Scott didn't hug her. He took her by the shoulders instead, bracing her the way he used to do before academy tests. "Teach it not to fuck with a Ryder," he muttered.

Sara nodded. The Tempest's impact with the hull sent vibrations through her bones, right up into her teeth - so her smile was shaky. Her answer was short.

"Will do."

Sara wasn't sure if she could do it - but it sure felt good to say it.

They moved apart slowly, like they were buying time for some sudden stroke of inspiration. Nothing was forthcoming. Even SAM remained silent. Sara hoped it was a sign that his servers were working on a solution, but the airlock door slid shut without a word of input from her partner.

And Sara was alone.

She pulled her helmet on. The click of the seals was like a gunshot. "I'm ready, Kallo."

There was a moment when the outer door rose - when she stepped down from the Tempest, and out into empty space - in which Sara thought her mag-boots had failed. She had a sudden vision of an undirected flight; of stumbling into vacuum with nothing but inertia to guide her. Would she impact with the hull somewhere? Would she be pulled into the planet's orbit - and burn up on re-entry?

But none of that happened. Her mag-boots clamped down on the hull, and Sara started to walk.

Her breathing seemed too loud. The Remnant alloy blurred beneath her feet, shifting and warping until she could have been walking on water. She was almost surprised to find the entrance where she'd left it; silently awaiting her return. The glyphs flickered eerily as Sara activated the interface.

She paused for a moment, staring into the darkness. Without SAM's prodding, she might have stood there forever; balanced on the precipice, ice spreading through her core.

"Do you wish to turn back, Pathfinder?"

"No."

She sealed the outer door behind her - but this time, something was different. She could hear a quiet hissing as the airlock mechanism activated.

"Is there air in here?"

"Yes." SAM didn't sound puzzled - _couldn't_ sound puzzled - but Sara knew he was surprised. "Artificial gravity has also been established. I have deactivated the electromagnets in your boots."

Still, Sara kept her helmet on. It probably wouldn't protect her from whatever the entity had planned - but it helped to ease some of the pressure in her throat. She had to fight the urge to hold her breath as she made her way through the ship. She jumped at every groan and creak of metal. Every distant sound sent spikes of adrenaline stabbing through her.

This time, the doors were all open. More conduits were active. Only SAM's perfect recall could direct her through the branching corridors. After long minutes of tenterhooks silence, he finally brought good news.

"Dr. T'Perro has asked me to inform you that Mr. Ama Darav is awake."

Sara took a moment to close her eyes. "Thanks, SAM."

SAM knew what she meant, of course, because SAM knew everything she was. "Thanks are unnecessary, Pathfinder. I am merely performing the function for which I was designed."

Sick guilt churned in Sara's gut. "You were designed to help me, right? Because helping me is helping you."

"That is correct."

"But this isn't helping you."

Sara wasn't sure what she wanted him to say. SAM wasn't in any real danger, because the _real_ SAM was light years away - and maybe Sara would never know all that _SAM_ was, but she knew he'd feel this loss. Maybe she just needed to get this out; to claw back a measure of forgiveness from her second sibling before the entity finally took what it wanted.

"We are helping Mr. Vidal," SAM said. "We are also helping Prodromos, and all life in Andromeda."

"Maybe," Sara whispered. "But I don't think we're walking out of here."

"Our missions always have an associated degree of risk, Sara."

Sara wasn't sure how to argue with that - so she didn't. "Thank you," she croaked. "For always being there for me."

"Thanks are unnecessary," SAM repeated. He paused. "I would like to point out that the entity has little reason to harm Mr. Vidal. If it wishes to bait some sort of trap, killing him would be counterproductive."

"We don't really know _what_ it wants, SAM."

"Regardless, his wellbeing may influence your decisions. You should know that he is likely still alive."

Sara kept her eyes averted when she passed through the chamber of dead angara. She didn't want to look at the bruises, and she didn't want the reminder of what awaited her friends if she had this wrong. She barged ahead, clattering over the deck like she wanted nothing more than to take flight entirely. The wide corridor beyond was even darker than Sara remembered.

It might stretch into forever, so far as she would ever know.

"Pathfinder," SAM cut in. His voice was quiet - almost like he was whispering. "Portions of the vessel's computer network appear to have been reactivated since the last time you were here. If you wish, I may be able to infiltrate the system."

Sara nodded. What did she have to lose?

"Do it."

She took another step forward -

And all the lights came on.

She wasn't in a corridor at all. The bulkheads swung outward a few scant metres ahead, curving wide around a central cylindrical chamber. The silky alloy walls gleamed bright with pulsing glyphs; green and yellow, white and blue. The ceiling was too high for Sara to make out. The sudden brightness made her eyes sting, but she could see something against the far wall -

Reyes.

And all her good sense deserted her.

"Reyes!"

He was slumped against a Remnant console. His head was lolling forward, hair hanging down over his brow - but Sara could see his eyes were closed.

She ran to him. She didn't care that she was meant to be cautious. She didn't care that she was meant to be stealthy. Reyes wasn't meant to be here; wasn't meant to be in danger. He wasn't meant to be pale like that -

Sara skidded to a halt beside him, tossing her helmet aside. When she dropped to her knees, she was barely aware of it. She wanted to grab him by the jaw; to shake him until his amber eyes opened and his quiet lungs expanded - but her limbs felt like they were tangled up in puppet strings. Her desperate hands were careful.

She brushed a hand over his brow, smoothing his hair back from his forehead. Reyes' eyelids fluttered open, hazy and unfocused - but they found hers immediately, like compass needles seeking north. There was a bruise on his temple. Blackened tendrils disappeared into his hair.

He flinched away from her. "Don't _touch_ me -"

"Reyes?" Her trembling fingers skimmed his cheek. "It's me, Reyes. It's me."

He hesitated for a moment, gaze sweeping her from head to toe like he didn't quite believe his eyes; like she might crumble into stellar dust if he dared to take her at her word - then breathed a shallow sigh, leaning into her touch. His breath was warm against her palm.

"Sara." He said it like a mantra; like a quiet prayer to ward off evil. "Sara."

"Are you okay?"

He nodded, but it was plainly a half-truth. He winced when her fingertips grazed the mark on his temple. He groaned when he tried to shift closer to her side. "It… wants you," he hissed.

Sara's skeleton felt like a crystal glass skyscraper; top-heavy, wavering - and set to shatter on the pavement. But she choked back her fear. She forced a smile.

"Did you tell it to get in line?"

Reyes tried to laugh, but it came out as a rasping groan. "Told it you were spoken for."

"What are you even doing here?" Maybe Sara was still hoping this was all a dream. It would be nice to close her eyes and find him safe; back on Kadara, maybe, luxuriating in the setting sun.

"I don't..." He hesitated. "I don't know. I suppose I was watching out for you. Seems like a bad idea, in hindsight."

Sara sighed. She brushed her thumb across his brow again, ready to tell him how hopelessly adored he was -

**_Are there others like you?_ **

Sara's blood froze in her veins.

Reyes stiffened, too. " _No_ ," he snarled.

He said it fiercely, like the heat of his fury might burn the danger away; like he'd push back the vacuum of space with the force of his conviction.

"No," Sara echoed.

She didn't sound forceful. She didn't sound strong. She sounded tired and sad and scared; like she was filled with funnelling despair, and everything else a heart might feel when it saw the end stretched out ahead. She still didn't know exactly what it wanted with her.

But she knew what would happen if it was denied.

**_Open your mind. Prove it._ **

"The entity is making another attempt to access your implant," SAM said in Sara's ear.

**_Open your mind._ **

Reyes slid his palm over the hand she still had pressed against his cheek. "Thanks for the rescue," he murmured. His lips brushed against the inside of her wrist, whispering those words he was always afraid to say too loud. "But what's the plan?"

Sara couldn't see any other options.

She kissed Reyes' forehead. "I love you so much."

His eyes widened - then narrowed, like her intentions were written on her face. "Sara -"

"Let it in, SAM."

The pain eclipsed description.

It was electricity shooting down her spinal cord. It was hot pokers on her nerve endings. It was an EMP exploding in the space behind her eyes; a burst of broad-spectrum energy that drowned her in scorching white light.

Sara collapsed.

She didn't feel an impact with the floor. Maybe Reyes caught her - or maybe her nervous system was just shutting down. Her vision was a cross-hatched haze of splintered light and shadow. Time must be passing, because Reyes was stroking her face; whispering and shouting at the ceiling by turns. Sara couldn't make out much of it - but a few fractured pleas broke through.

"Stop! Whatever you're doing to her - stop!"

"SAM! Shit, SAM - you have to help her!"

"Sara!" He chanted her name like they were caught in some spiralling shuttle crash. " _Sara_ -"

But the entity's voice was loud and clear. It rattled her skull like her bones were plastered shrapnel.

**_She did not lie. There are no others._ **

"Let her go!"

**_No._ **

Sara's vision was blurring to a field of shapeless white. The heat was turning cold. Her bones were turning brittle, and shearing like the pillars of the world -

Then the world turned upside down.

It jolted loose the grip on Sara's brain. Sound and light and feeling returned with a _crash_ and a scream and a shudder. When Sara's senses came back to her, she was rolling across the floor - because the ship was tilted on its axis, the artificial gravity sent haywire. She was bruising her elbows; knocking her head against the upright deck. She could hear SAM in her head, but his words sounded like nonsense.

The ship righted itself. Normal gravity returned, and Sara landed on her stomach. She was aching all over - and she was _confused_. SAM's voice returned. This time, he made sense.

"I was able to momentarily disrupt the vessel's systems, Pathfinder. The entity has re-established control."

Sara groaned. Everything hurt, but she was already looking around for Reyes. She found him a few metres away, struggling to get his feet beneath him. His expression was grim - but his jaw slackened in relief when he saw her.

"Sara -"

She scrambled towards him, limbs as weak as willow stems; knees scraping against the deck as she crawled. Reyes stumbled to his feet - only to fall to his knees beside her and gather her into his arms. His fingers cupped her face, both gentle and insistent; tender in their desperation, like he was afraid a touch too firm might break her.

"We have to get out of here," he urged.

There was a pressure on Sara's temple. It wasn't just a bruise, though she was sure she had one now.

"SAM?"

There was no response this time - but he couldn't be gone. The thing was pushing at her brain again, but it wasn't getting through. SAM must be protecting her.

Reyes' gaze dragged over her, eyes to lips to bruise and back again. "We need to go!"

"We can't run," Sara panted. Her vision was still fracturing; collapsing like an overclocked drive core. Her hands were shaking. "Prodromos is toast if we try."

Reyes' eyes darkened. She knew what he was thinking. She could see it on his face _-_ but he wasn't mad enough to think she'd ever agree to let it burn.

"Then what do you -"

Reyes froze, his words dying on his lips. The arm around Sara's waist went slack, and the palm on her cheek fell away. His eyes rolled back in his head.

"No!"

Sara caught him before his head could hit the floor, but he was floppy like a ragdoll; still like a fire starved of oxygen. The bruise on his temple was spreading.

"No -" She cradled his head in her hands, leaning in close like proximity might drive the fiend away. "SAM! SAM, I need you!"

But there was still no reply.

**_You are connected. Can you survive without him?_ **

"Stop!" she screamed. Suddenly, she didn't care about Prodromos. She didn't even care about herself. "Just stop!"

**_He is not like you. Open your mind, and I will leave in peace._ **

"SAM!"

"Pathfinder." SAM's voice was high-pitched and rushed, like he was running audio at double speed. "I have been devoting the entirety of my processing power to locating the entity's presence within the ship. It is enmeshed with the primary computer core. I may be able to disable it, but the connection will require me to allow it access to your implant again. I cannot guarantee that either of us will survive the process."

Reyes' eyes were closed. His face was pale. His lips were still and open -

And he wasn't breathing.

Sara didn't hesitate. "Let it in!"

The pain hit her like a landslide. It was a torrent of energy so intense that it had physical force; a storm of light and colour given crushing momentum. It drove her down onto the floor like liquid weights around her neck, dousing her in a glare so bright the world inverted. It buried her in blackness. It drowned her in the dark.

But that was okay.

Because she saw Reyes inhale.

 

\---

 

There was something tapping Reyes' face. Gentle. Steady. Insistent. Periodic, almost, like a metronome or a sine wave.

But it wasn't a touch. It was a sound; quiet but jarring, like a discordant note in an engine start-up sequence. It was high-pitched, too, and vaguely electronic.

It was a heart rate monitor.

Reyes opened his eyes. He was wrapped tight in sheets that smelled like disinfectant. His vision was fuzzy, and pain was spiderwebbing across his skull like ice crystals over a bottle. The monitor was chiming in time with his heartbeat. He craned his neck just far enough to spot the cannula in his arm - and the IV stand attached to it. The thing was moulded to the wall. Odd, for a hospital.

But not for a starship. It took him a moment to realize it - but he was in the Tempest's med bay.

It all came back to him in a rush: the Sara in his dreams, cruel and cold and tempting; the _real_ Sara in his arms, lids fluttering over the whites of her eyes while that black-red bruise spread across her brow. There was pain, too; hot and real and terrible - and the sound of Sara's words from somewhere above him. They were heard through a storm. They were carved into his ribs.

_Let it in!_

The monitor was beeping faster. Reyes' lungs shrunk down to nothing as he twisted around to find her - but he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her in another bed across the room. He could hear her monitor chiming too, barely loud enough to discern.

"Sara? Are you awake?"

She didn't reply. Reyes hesitated. Her quiet heartbeat was steady -

But he had to know for sure.

He scrambled out of bed. His legs were tangled in the clinging sheets, but he kicked his way free, pausing just long enough to detach the IV line. He staggered over to her bed, surprised by just how weak he was; how his thighs shook and his head swam. Crossing the scant metres to her side took an inhuman effort, and his knees almost buckled when he crouched beside her bed.

"Sara?"

The bruise on her temple had clawed its way across her forehead, tickling her hairline on both sides of her face. There were bruises under her eyes, too; purple and faded, like she'd painted her cheeks with shadows in defense against that scorching light. Reyes could still see it behind his eyes - but Sara's remained shut.

Reyes reached out, trembling fingers skimming her brow. She didn't flinch.

She hardly _breathed._

Reyes didn't make a habit of talking to himself, but this was different. "It's fine. She's just asleep." A moment passed in silence - then two. Then three. "SAM? Are you there?"

"Hello, Mr. Vidal." The AI's voice came through a speaker on the wall.

"Is she okay?"

SAM sounded different, somehow. Reyes couldn't quite place it. "Her condition is unclear. The Pathfinder is alive, but she has been unconscious since the destruction of the Remnant entity."

"What happened? What _was_ that thing?"

"The entity appeared to be a form of advanced artificial intelligence. It is unclear precisely why, but it seemed to be intent on exterminating organic-AI partnerships. I was able to deactivate it by disrupting the Remnant vessel's primary computer core. Without the aid of the intelligence, the ship was quickly claimed by the Scourge."

"How did we get out?"

"I prompted the Tempest's crew to initiate an extraction. That was almost twenty-four standard hours ago. Dr. T'Perro has been caring for you since your return."

"But…I'm awake. What's wrong with Sara?" Reyes brushed his thumb over her cheek. Her skin was cool to the touch.

Was she meant to be this cold?

"She has experienced a degree of neurological damage," SAM was saying. "Dr. T'Perro is in the process of assessing her condition. While my connection to the Pathfinder's physiology does provide some insight, it will only be possible to determine the full extent of her injuries if she awakens."

Reyes' tongue was made of concrete. His chest was full of ice. "If?"

"The Pathfinder's unassisted use of Remnant technology during the battle for Meridian left her with damage of a similar nature. The impact of this event was likely more severe." SAM definitely sounded hesitant, now, even if Reyes knew it was impossible; even if all his senses seemed to be shutting down one by one. If. If.

"If she doesn't wake up, SAM -"

"You are not to blame, Reyes."

Reyes barely registered the use of his first name. If. If.

_If._

"The Pathfinder was obligated to protect Prodromos. Your presence aboard the Remnant ship may appear to have precipitated her decision to board the vessel alone, but it was a conclusion she would have reached regardless."

"But she wouldn't have let that thing -"

"She would," SAM said. The hesitation was gone. "You should have no doubt of that."

Reyes stayed there for hours, watching Sara's face for any sign of change. Every flicker of her eyelids sent bolts of helpless pain through his chest; wound lines of sweetened agony through his ribs and around his throat. Her every quiet sigh made his lungs swell tight with hope - then shredded them to ribbons, like razor blades through gauze. He spoke to her, at first. He whispered denial into her hair.

"You won, Sara. There's some top-shelf whiskey waiting for us when you wake up, you know. On me."

But he couldn't keep it up. Sara's brow was too cold. Her breathing was too shallow. That blackened bruise across her skin was a reminder of the damage he couldn't see - and the damage he couldn't repair.

"Please, Sara. Just… wake up, all right?"

Lexi wandered in eventually. She did her best to coax him back into his bed, but Reyes barely acknowledged her. His vision was tunnelling. His ears were closed over. If. If. If.

After Lexi left, SAM tried to talk to him. He chattered about nothing, like they were killing time over a drink. Reyes had enough sense left to realize he was trying to comfort him. He had the understanding to marvel at it, too, but he didn't have the wherewithal to care. Everything was muted - except the sound of Sara's breathing.

He didn't know what to do. He didn't _want_ to know. He'd been alone for so long that it should have been second nature, really - but the thought of losing her drove ice right down into his bones. Sara Ryder was the Pathfinder. Sara Ryder couldn't die. And if she did -

If. If. _If_ -

Reyes would never be sure how, but he eventually fell asleep. SAM fell silent. The quiet closed in like stellar dust around a nebula, and Reyes' head tipped forward until his bruised temple was resting against the mattress. Maybe he was crying. Maybe he wasn't. Either way, it felt the same.

He dreamed of Sara.

He'd gone half a sorry lifetime without the barest hint of dreaming, but now that he might have lost her, she was _everywhere_. Reyes couldn't see her, though his stinging eyes ached for the lack - but he could hear her. She was talking nonsense; speaking aimless circles in her quiet, lilting voice. There were words in there that Reyes knew, like _love_ and _hope_ and _sorry_ \- but the rest of it was gentle, hazy music, lulling him to sleep like her hand was on his chest. She didn't sound sad. She didn't sound angry. She didn't sound scared, either - just relaxed and warm and sleepy, like they'd never left his bed in Kadara Port.

He could feel her fingers in his hair. They traced patterns on his scalp, mapping paths he'd never have a hope of unravelling. He wished she'd entangle the rest of him, too; wrap him up in velvet whispers and cocoon him with her warmth. She'd bind his heart with fragile cords. She'd tie his wrists with tender touch.

He couldn't wake up. Not if she -

If. If. _If_ -

"Reyes?"

He bit back a sob, because her voice was loud and clear now. The fingers in his hair stilled.

"Reyes? Are you okay?"

The air in Reyes' lungs was suddenly cold - but he couldn't draw any more in. His ribs were brittle and stinging; vibrating at a frequency that climbed higher with every heartbeat. He lifted his head.

Sara was awake.

The bruise hadn't faded. The shadows under her eyes were even deeper than before, but her gaze was focused and her voice was clear. She even managed a trembling smile.

"Hi."

Reyes wasn't sure he could make his lips move in response - but they went ahead without him.

"Good morning," he murmured, just as if they were lying in his bed on a lazy morning; just as if his heart wasn't pressing up against his windpipe like a knife. A degree of neurological damage, SAM had said.

How much was a degree?

"How are you feeling?"

Sara winced. "My head hurts." Her eyes went suddenly wide, darting around the room like she was searching for something. "SAM? SAM, are you -"

"I am here, Pathfinder."

Sara visibly relaxed. Her gaze came back to Reyes, lingering on his forehead. "That looks painful. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Reyes murmured. He reached out to touch her cheek, fearing for a moment that contact might shatter the illusion; that the dream was about to crumble into glittering shards - but Sara's eyes fluttered closed, and she leaned into his palm. "So long as you're sure you are."

She smiled gently. "Tell him I'm okay, SAM."

"Dr T'Perro will need to run further tests," SAM replied. "However, the Pathfinder's active neural functions appear to be normal, Mr. Vidal."

Reyes was almost afraid to believe it. Sara must have seen it on his face, because she pulled his hand from her cheek and pinned it against her chest; pressed his knuckles against her heart, eyes slowly drifting closed. She sighed so _deeply_ , like she was trying to expel all the air from her lungs.

"I’m sorry," Reyes told her. He felt like he was floating - but the warmth of Sara's body kept him grounded.

"For what?"

"I think you know."

Sara opened her eyes. She tugged his fingers up to her lips, kissing the tips one by one. Her breathing was slow. Her lips were soft.

"There's nothing to be sorry for."

Reyes wondered if she knew how she quieted those tremors at his core. "We did learn something."

"What's that?"

Sara pressed his palm against her cheek again, smiling at him like the stars were strung out between them; like she was the distance and he was the light, and Reyes was the focus of everything worth knowing.

For a thready, glass-pierced moment, Reyes wondered if it was possible to die of love. Not to die _for_ it, of course, because he knew exactly how that would work - but for love _itself_ to kill him; to batter at his flimsy lungs until they punctured on his ribs; to wring his heart so ceaselessly that it finally fell apart.

"There really is no one like you," he murmured.

Sara's brows pulled together, and Reyes saw a shadow pass over her eyes. For a moment, he worried that he'd frightened her -

But she seized him by the collar and pulled him up towards her. She kissed him, fierce and desperate; like a flickering flame demanding oxygen. "Don't ever leave," she gasped.

And Reyes crumbled in her hands.

"I won't," he answered, even if they both knew it was a lie; even if the Pathfinder and the Charlatan could only briefly occupy the same space. Sara curled her fingers in his shirt like she was thinking the same thing - but when she finally replied, she didn't sound afraid.

"I know."


End file.
